Hero
by Assemble-the-Avengers
Summary: And for once, while Hayley stared at him with perceptive hazel eyes, the soldier out of time was not thinking of Peggy, or Howard, or Erskine, but of now. Steve/OC
1. Would you cry, if you saw me crying

**Here is my first Captain America fiction. **

**And here we go:)**

Steve Rogers shot up in his bed, scrambling back against the headboard. His hyperactive, glazed over blue eyes flew around the room, scanning it for Johann Schmidt, who Steve knew, wasn't _really _in Avengers Tower. The Captain collapsed into the mattress, kicking away the sheets that had tangled themselves around his legs and torso. He pushed himself into a sitting position. His sweaty forehead rested against his knees. The shattered soldier sucked deep breaths past his teeth in a vain attempt to force his nightmare out of his mind. He stumbled into the bathroom, pulling the bath towel off of its hook behind the door. He rubbed it over his face, sobbing dryly into the absorbent material.

"Captain Rogers, may I suggest alerting another teammate?" the electronic British voice suggested from above the hero. Steve started, staggering away from the sink. He ripped a white tee shirt off the back of the desk chair as he ran past, jogging out his bedroom door. Ignoring the elevator, Steve opened the door leading to the emergency stairwell, undoubtedly waking everyone but Tony when the door slammed against the wall.

Steve hadn't known where he was running until he stopped in from of the gate separating the cemetery from the street. The super soldier effortlessly jumped the fence, starting down the well-known path to a certain grave. As he approached the headstone, a faint moonlit shadow came into view. The captain's protective instincts locked down his lingering fears as he began jogging towards the hunched figure.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" he asked the shaking female figure. Her head shot away from her hands.

"I'm so sorry sir, I didn't mean to…" she trailed off as she studied the features of the man who had caught her. Her navy blue eyes flittered toward the grave she was visiting then back to the muscled man. "You're…" she started, pausing when she noticed his utterly dejected expression. "Hey, are you ok?" the younger girl asked, stepping towards the usually upbeat super hero.

For once in his life, Steve didn't pretend to be as strong as he looked. The Captain dropped to the damp grass, running his fingers over the name engraved in the stone. _Margaret Carter. _Steve ignored the small girl who knelt down beside him, resting a gently hand on his shoulder.

"Captain Rogers…" she prompted softly.

"How did you know her?" he asked hoarsely. The girl rocked back on her heels, letting her hand fall off his shoulder.

"She was my mom's best friend. Peggy was family to me." She answered quietly. Steve nodded in acknowledgment. "When my mom died, she was the only woman I had left in the family." She chuckled quietly, sniffling slightly. "Now it's just my dad and me."

"My apologies, ma'am." He said suddenly, blushing as he got to his feet. He held his shaking hand out, staring at the tombstone while he helped her up.

"Heroes can be weak too." She breathed once she'd gotten to her feet. He stared at her, blue eyes shimmering with tears he'd never dare shed. "I'm Hayley." She told him, staring up at the cad super hero.

"Steve," he replied unnecessarily, relaxing his hand was still clasped around hers. He stared down at the small strawberry blonde woman who watched him breathtaking sincerity. Hayley was the first girl since Peggy to see him broken. "Pleasure meeting you, ma'am." He told her politely, pulling his hand away. He nodded before turning to walk away.

"Hey!" she called out from behind, causing him to look back. "Did you maybe want to get breakfast with me? I don't have to be at my studio till eight." She rambled timidly.

Steve looked down at the lady who was not fawning over him or acting like the typical fan girls that followed him in public. And for once, while Hayley stared at him with perceptive hazel eyes, the soldier out of time was not thinking of Peggy, or Howard, or Erskine, but of _now._

"That sounds nice, actually." He agreed. "Any place you've got in mind?" he asked as they began walking again. Hayley smirked.

"I've got an idea." She winked mysteriously. Steve chuckled, burying his hands in his trouser pockets. Hayley froze as the hero started to climb the gate. He looked down at her, jumping back to ground level. "I'm, uh…" Hayley coughed self-consciously. "afraid of heights." She mumbled.

"How'd you get in?" Steve asked in confusion. The redhead blushed even brighter.

"I snuck in while they were closing up." Hayley looked away from the virtuous.

"I can climb up first if you'd like." He offered quietly. Hayley looked up through her lashes, smiling nervously. Steve effortlessly scaled the chain link fence, hopping from the top of it as it were no big deal. Hayley swallowed thickly as she looked down from the top. There was a celebrity super soldier waiting to catch her and she was still afraid to fall. Steve waited with an amused expression, hands once again stuffed in his pockets.

"You can't catch me if your hands are in your pockets." She stated anxiously, hands wrapped around the bar in a white knuckled grip.

Captain America had been Hayley's hero since the battle for Manhattan when he saved her little sister from the Chitauri. Ariel had been hurt and had spent a month in the hospital while her small five year old body recovered from a ricocheted energy blast. Guilt had consumed Hayley for months on end; she should've been there to protect her baby sister, but she hadn't been able to while Steve had, and for that she'd always be grateful. So she knew firsthand about hos enhanced reflexes.

Steve huffed a laugh, holding his arms out to speed up the inevitable. Hayley squeaked as she jumped, whimpering as she fell through the air.

"Told you I'd catch you." Hayley felt his toned chest rumble against the length of her body as she clung to the hero, still shaking from the fall. Hazel eyes finally met blue once the ginger convinced herself she no longer falling. She blushed immediately once he registered the girl's body pressed up against him. "Sorry." He apologized, gently setting her back on the ground.

"Thanks." She murmured. Steve tipped his head, continuing towards his motorcycle. He threw his leg over, waiting for Hayley to climb on behind him. Steve's face heated up once again as Hayley's arms wrapped around his torso, hands clasping in front of him. "Bakery on 8th." She told him before he could ask.

"Yes ma'am." He responded, kicking his bike to life. Hayley giggled quietly at the old fashioned title. Steve took off in the direction of the bakery, working to not focus on the girl's breath on his neck but rather on the road.

**Leave a comment if you'd like this story to continue. **

**Thoughts on Hayley?**


	2. Would you laugh

Steve rolled the bike into a vacant parking spot, cutting the engine then effortlessly sliding off and holding a hand out to Hayley. The red head smiled and took his hand, letting Captain America help her of his motorcycle. She dipped her head and smiled at the pavement, her hand dropping out of his as she walked towards the closed bakery.

"I think its…" Steve started to point out behind her.

"Trust me, it's alright." She smiled over her shoulder. Steve smirked disbelievingly but followed the girl who was almost a foot shorter than him. He reached over Hayley's head as they reached the door, pushing it open for her.

"Why thank you." She laughed. He chuckled quietly.

"You're mocking me." He realized.

"Not at all. You're just a rare species." She defended smiling. Steve cocked his head, waiting for an explanation as they stepped over the threshold of the dark shop. "There aren't many gentlemen left in this world. I can't even remember the last time someone aside from my dad held a door open for me." She explained, shrugging. Steve blushed.

"Well my mother sort of beat it into me as a child. Treating dame's right wasn't a decision. It was an upbringing. To be fair though, I'm not exactly from _this _world. Or more like I'm not from this era." He buried his hands in his pockets, the deprecation creeping back into his eyes. Hayley smiled and spun around his perfectly cut body so that she was behind him, pushing him forward with her hands on his mid-back. Steve froze momentarily before laughing once he realized this five foot four girl was trying to move _him. _He humored her and took a step forward. She giggled and stepped forward so that she was standing next to him again.

"We're closed! What do you…?" an older man flew out of the kitchen's double doors, apron splattered with flour, batter and frosting.

"Sorry sir, we didn't…" Steve started to defend Hayley.

"Hey baby." The man cut the soldier off, clapping his hands together to dispel the flour. Steve's eyebrows furrowed as he looked back and forth between Hayley and the baker. "Hey Steve." The man waved.

"Hello Mr. Jensen." Steve nodded awkwardly.

"You two…" Hayley's head whipped back and forth between her dad and the captain. "You know him, daddy?" Hayley asked, voice rising a couple octaves.

"Yeah. He comes in every now and then when he can't…" Mr. Jensen paused, glancing apologetically at Steve.

"I come here when I can't sleep." The blonde finished, politely waiting for the situation to explain itself. Hayley nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew Captain America?" she asked cautiously. Steve winced. "Oh." She realized.

"He's _who?" _Mr. Jensen's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

"Captain America." Steve sighed. "Captain Steve Roger's, sir." The war veteran held his hand out to the older man. Hayley's dad numbly shook the hero's hand, watching him with new found fascination.

"You saved my daughter." Mr. Jensen muttered quietly. Steve glanced at Hayley.

"Sir, I think I would've remembered a da- lady as beautiful as your daughter and I don't recall ever having encountering her." Steve blushed again as Hayley's face turned bright red.

"No, no. My younger daughter, Ariel. She's five. She was caught in the crossfire. One of those blue blast guns ricocheted off a building and hit her. She would've died. You saved her." the man recapped. Steve swallowed thickly, remembering the little redhead he'd seen curled up on the sidewalk.

"_Dad." _Hayley scolded.

"Sorry, sorry. I've always wanted to thank you for that. So thank you. Anything I can get you two?" Mr. Jensen quickly changed the subject and Steve let him. Hayley thought for a minute before speaking again.

"How about some bagels and one of whatever you've gotten baked so far?" she smiled, batting her eyelashes at her dad. He shook his head and disappeared into the back, only to return a minute later with a brown paper bag full of treats.

"Thank you, sir." Steve reached forward to take it from him.

"You don't need to revert back to _sir _just because you're dating my daughter, son." Mr. Jensen laughed.

"Oh no, Mr. Jensen we aren't dating." Steve stuttered.

"_Daddy!" _Hayley giggled. "I met him this morning when I was…" she trailed off sadly. "out." She finished. "We aren't dating." She assured him.

"You will be." He shrugged, turning away and waving over his shoulder.

"Bye Daddy." Hayley called giggling as she led the way out of the bakery. Steve followed her, blushing blood red. "Don't worry about him. He's got all these fantasies for me." She laughed, and then looked over her shoulder at the super soldier. "And I think you are the _epitome _of the fantasies." Steve could've sworn in that second his face caught on fire.

"Where are we going?" Steve asked nervously. Being alone with a dame you were not _involved _with was definitely one of the things frowned upon in his time.

"Don't worry Steve." She laughed, reaching back and grabbing his hand. Steve realized she was far too trusting for this world. He learned quickly; it wasn't like home. You couldn't trust anyone and everyone you ran into. That would get you killed. That was probably why he came to like her so quickly. She was simple…old school. So he closed his mouth, quieted the warning bells, and let the small girl he had barely known for an hour lead him around the back of the building.

She pulled him to a stop and gestured in front of her. Steve's mouth fell open slightly at the sight before him. It was purely _Brooklyn. _The Brooklyn bridge, its reflection on the water that glistened in the rising sun. You couldn't hear the honking of car horns the soldier didn't understand. Or see people talking on their Eye-Telephones that he didn't understand either. You couldn't hear men disrespecting women in a way that most likely had his mother rolling in her grave. _He loved it. _

Hayley looked at the man out of time with a small smile on her face. She considered herself old school and that's why she loved this place so much. It was as far away from all the nonsensical technology as you could get in Brooklyn. She figured that the soldier who had missed seventy years of modernization would love it just as much or more than she did. Judging by the look on his face that had been creased with depression for the hour they had known each other, she'd guessed correctly.

Steve looked beside him to find Hayley gone. He looked around anxiously for the girl, forgetting the closest thing to home he'd seen in seventy years.

"Over here, soldier." Her voice giggled from behind him. He spun around and sighed in relief, rolling his eyes at her disappearing act. She waved him over from her spot in the grass against a tree near the back wall of the Brooklyn Bakery. He walked in her direction, sitting down across from her, leaning back and bracing himself with his hands. She offered him a muffin which he politely declined. Hayley rolled her eyes and smirked.

"So what's your middle name, soldier?" she asked innocently. He raised an eyebrow curiously but shook his head and decided to answer anyway.

"Gra-" the last half of his name was muffled by a muffin that had suddenly been shoved in his face. He choked but covered his mouth and swallowed before chuckling at her innocent expression. "Grant." He finished. She nodded.

"I know." She chirped. His eyebrows furrowed.

"How did you…?" he started.

"Peggy told me." She shrugged, peeling the wrapper off of another muffin.

"Ah." He nodded, reaching for a bagel that sat untouched on top of the paper bag. "So you going to tell me yours?" he asked, tearing pieces off the snack.

"Maybe." She hummed mysteriously. She giggled quietly. "It's Caroline. It was my mom's name." she told him. He nodded.

"It's a very pretty name." he complemented. She smiled slightly. The smiles on her lips faded into an 'o' and she gasped.

"What time is it?" she asked worriedly, frantically feeling her pockets. Steve looked at his wrist.

"7:45." He answered for her.

"Shoot." She pouted. "I have to be a my studio in fifteen minutes." She explained, standing off the grass and gathering her trash. "I teach a dance class and it takes fifteen minutes to get there if I run." She sighed.

"I can give you a ride." Steve offered, easily getting off the grass. She looked up at him with hopeful hazel eyes.

"Are you sure?" she checked.

"Of course. Nothings attacking the planet at this moment so I think I've got time." He made a show of checking his watch. She giggled and stretched up on her toes to kiss his cheek before running back to the front of the building to tell her dad she was leaving. Steve was left in her wake, blushing madly with a burning cheek. He shook it off and followed her footsteps, leaning against his motorcycle while he waited. She skipped out the front door minutes later, dressed in a tight black leotard, tights, pink ballet shoes and a sheer shawl tied around her waist. Steve held a hand out for her bag as he helped her onto the bike. He climbed on in front of her and fit her small duffle bag between his abdomen and the handle bars.

"Gotta Dance on 82nd." She muttered in his ear, wrapping her arms tightly around his stomach. He nodded and took off in the general direction.

"I can stay if you need a ride back." He offered as they pulled up to the studio.

"It's a two hour practice and I have my own rehearsal afterwards. Don't worry about it. Thanks though." She added. He nodded and held her bag out to her. "It was nice to meet you Steve." She smiled shyly. He nodded.

"Likewise ma'am." He replied. She turned on her heel and jogged up the steps to the dance studio. Steve watched her disappear inside before he revved the bike and sped off, smiling for the first time in months.

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